Stangle-Castor presents at Planetree Patient Centered Conference

This year Chicago hosted the 2016 International Conference on Patient Centered Care also known as the Planetree Conference. Planetree is a mission based not-for-profit organization that partners with healthcare organizations around the world and across the care continuum to transform how care is delivered with an emphasis on the patient.

On November 1, Nannette Stangle-Castor, PhD, President & Founder – InnoVector Tech and Tracy K. Gosselin, PhD, RN, AOCN, Chief Nursing & Patient Care Services Officer – Duke University Health System and presented Transforming Care: A Cancer Center’s Patient Advisory Council Journey. Their session reviewed methods used to develop and sustain a disease-specific advisory council within a larger healthcare system. Initial implementation tactics including recruitment, applicant screening and training, governance structure, and sustainability were discussed. Key projects and outcomes were shared that illustrated the value of Duke’s Oncology Patient Advisory Council as it relates to clinical care as well as researchers who are pursuing grant-funded studies. Also discussed were approaches to receiving feedback from the council, sharing their recommendations with health system presenters, and tracking for impacts.

Nannette was also inspired by other speakers including Because I said I would founder Alex Sheen sharing his message about the value and meaning of a promise made and kept. Some of Nannette’s favorite quotes from Alex were:”Sometimes we don’t need a miracle – we just need people to do what they said they would do” and “When you have a strong WHY, you can be strong.” Dr. David Agus author of “The Lucky Years” also presented compelling messages about our concepts of health. He shared messages on how he “wants to go back to dying of old age” and “regularity has a great positive impact on health.” Of note was his desire for “doctors to behave more like climate scientists than biologists,” a definitive switch to a larger systems-based approach for healthcare.